Undergraduate Journal of Politics and International Relations Latest Articleshttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/articles/Latest articles published by Undergraduate Journal of Politics and International Relationsen-usMon, 19 Nov 2018 23:36:03 -0000Why was Iraq Invaded in 2003?https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.5334/ujpir.14<p class="p1">This research seeks to provide an analysis of why the invasion of Iraq occurred in 2003. War is not an event that emerges in isolation; therefore this research will provide an examination of the historical animosity that existed between Iraq and the US starting with the Gulf War due to the familial connection between Bush presidents. The research will also provide analysis of the changes to the international environment in the late 20<sup>th </sup>Century and early 21<sup>st </sup>Century that contributed to the emergence of a permissive environment that increased the likelihood of this war occurring. Finally, due to their predominance in the Bush Jnr Administration the research will centre on the neoconservatives of the Project for the New American Century. It will analyse their ideology and their exploitation of the permissive environment created by the war on terror and their positions of authority within the Bush administration to fulfil their vendetta against Saddam Hussein. This research argues that the neoconservatives were able to take advantage of the opportunities that emerged within the international system to convince the President, Congress and a significant section of the public to support the intervention in Iraq.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 17:42:08https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.5334/ujpir.14The Psychological Spectrum: Political Orientation and its Origins in Perception and Culturehttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.25<p class="p1"><em>Rightists need difference,</em></p><p class="p2"><em>Leftists, similarity;</em></p><p class="p2"><em>But both need culture.</em></p><p class="p2">In this paper I employ a simple methodological innovation to test the relationships between political orientation, perception and culture. Previous studies have indicated that right-wing policy stances are related to the wish to sustain order and hierarchy and to disgust sensitivity, and that left-wing policy stances reflect a need for novelty, equality and autonomy. This relationship is not universally constant, however, but varies between cultural environments. Previous literature is limited by its reliance on Western convenience samples, a bias against scrutiny of the political left, and a lack of cross-cultural and cross-situational comparisons. Use of representative survey data for this purpose has been hindered by the lack of psychological variables. I overcome this difficulty by producing a new psychometric measure, an average measure of the extent to which individuals provide polarised responses to Likert scales. Using this variable in an analysis of Wave 6 of the World Values Survey, I find evidence to support the claim that political opinions are intimately linked with classification of similarity and difference, and with cultural context.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 16:49:00https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.25Eastern Europeans in Britain: Successfully Integrated Citizens or Alienated Migrants? A Case Study of the Lithuanian Migrant Community in Londonhttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.46<p class="p1">This article addresses issues of Eastern Europeans’ integration process in Britain. The study contributes the first analysis of Lithuanian migrants’ integration experience in the United Kingdom (UK) by utilising qualitative data gathered from the Lithuanian migrant community in London. The main concern of this paper is to provide an analysis of the empirical data gathered and to compare it to other Eastern European migrants’ integration experience in the UK. I have critically examined personal and collective levels of integration, including the following themes: language, employment and labour unions, education, and interaction within the migrants’ national community. The intention of this study is not to make generalisations about all Lithuanians or Eastern Europeans in the UK, but rather to identify and illustrate certain trends that either support or contradict the propositions developed in the literature review. Based on Lithuanian interviewees’ experiences of and attitudes towards integration into British society, it can be concluded that only some of the above-explained features are similar between the five interviewed Lithuanians and other Eastern European migrants in the UK, namely education and collective action within migrants’ national community.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 16:39:39https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.46How Effectively did Parliamentary Candidates Use Social Media During the 2015 UK General Election Campaignhttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.55<p class="p1">Many academics and political commentators have speculated that the rise of the internet, and in particular social media, could transform political communications. In the run up to the 2015 UK general election we saw an emphasis on the potential impact of social media campaigning, with many headlines suggesting that this could be the first social media election. The purpose of this paper is to determine how effectively parliamentary candidates used social media during the 2015 UK general election campaign period, by creating a typology of the ways in which candidates behaved on social media. The primary research conducted, which included analysis of the Twitter and Facebook posts (n = 616) made by a sample of candidates (n = 10), focused on 4 main post functions: <em>broadcasting, posters/infographics, organising</em>, and <em>interacting</em>. The results show that overall UK politicians mainly used social media as a unidirectional method of communication, as opposed to interacting. However, this research also found key differences between Twitter and Facebook, the former used much more interactively.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 16:30:13https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.55Exploring the Descriptive Representation of Women: The Case of the National Assembly of Waleshttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.59<p class="p1">With the devolved institutions nearing their 20<sup>th </sup>anniversary, the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly have changed the face of politics within the United Kingdom. The National Assembly for Wales, in particular, has made extensive advances in the field of female representation, notably being the first devolved legislature to achieve perfect gender parity. However, the question remains as to whether this parity was achieved through luck or design. This dissertation draws on the work of Pitkin to identify the importance of the relationship between both substantive and descriptive representation and then explores the concepts and contemporary academia to identify the leading theories within this field. The National Assembly will then be analysed in order to establish the measures that have been put in place by the institution in order to protect and promote a commitment to the equality of representation. Four political parties within the National Assembly for Wales will be assessed including the Welsh Labour Party, Welsh Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives drawing on evidence from 1999–2016. Both chapters will draw upon semi-structured interviews conducted with the Diversity and Inclusion Team and female Assembly Members from across political parties in order to allow for conclusions to be drawn as to what the most influential factors have been in the success of the National Assembly’s female representation, and whether the Assembly has been successful due to luck or design.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 13:44:36https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.59Democracy in Difficult Terrain: The Outcome of Western Democracy Promotion in Tajikistanhttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.76<p class="p1">Democracy promotion is a key foreign policy tool for western actors in Tajikistan, yet the prevailing opinion amongst academics is that current efforts have failed to provide meaningful democratisation. Examining two levels of democracy promotion through government and civil society, this article argues that a basic ‘package’ of values that enable democracy, such as economic liberalisation, have been established. Furthermore, a focus has been made upon civil society with the anticipation that the younger generation of Tajiks, who are without the experience of the civil conflict and a drive to seek stability will push the state towards western liberal democracy in the future. Thus, this article acknowledges the failure of fully fledged democracy but demonstrates that the current outcome of democracy promotion in Tajikistan is one of looking forward towards the next generation.</p> Published on 2018-03-13 13:26:34https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.76Editorialhttps://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.99 Published on 2018-03-13 12:39:33https://www.ujpir-journal.com/article/10.22599/ujpir.99